National Tennis C'ship: Top seeds Vishnu, Vaidehee make a winning start in Fenesta Open

New Delhi, Sep 30 (IANS) Top seeds and former national champions Vishnu Vardhan and Vaidehee Chaudhari made a winning start in their respective categories while Abhinav Sanjeev stunned third seed Ishaque Eqbal in the first round on the opening day of the 29th Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship at the DLTA Complex here on Monday. 

Multiple Asian Games medalist Vishnu of Telangana had a rough start against Haryana’s Udit Kamboj in the first round but eventually won the contest 7-5, 6-1 in straight sets to advance in the tournament.

The former Davis Cupper faced a tough challenge at the beginning of the match as Udit never allowed him to take a big lead in the opening set with his quick movement along the baseline and powerful forehands. The score was level 5-5 when Vishnu utilized his experience and kept his cool to play accurate shots. The two-time national champion won the next two games to clinch the set and then took control of the following set from the start, registering a crucial win.

In the women’s singles category, the 2022 Fenesta National champion Vaidehee of Gujarat made a positive start against Saily Thakkar (Gujarat) in the first set and quickly took the lead before winning it by 6-2 with a phenomenal cross-court forehand. The second set saw Saily fighting for every point in the beginning but Vaidehee soon took control and won it by 6-4 to reach the second round. In another women’s singles match, Delhi’s Kashish Bhatia clinched an easy 6-0, 6-1 victory over Karnataka’s Soha Sadiq.

India’s largest domestic tennis tournament — supported by DCM Shriram Ltd., a leading business conglomerate, under the aegis of All India Tennis Association and Delhi Lawn Tennis Association, will witness the participation of exciting talents from various parts of the country fighting for the coveted crowns.

The tournament has seen the participation of some of India’s top tennis stars in the past editions including Rohan Bopanna, Somdev Devvarman, Yuki Bhambri, Sania Mirza and Rutuja Bhosale among many others.

Tamil Nadu’s Abhinav Sanjeev produced a big upset in the opening round match as he beat third seed Ishaque Eqbal of West Bengal 6-1, 7-6 (5) in a two-set thriller with the second set going into a tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, Sixth seed Ranjeet V.M of Tamil Nadu also began the prestigious tournament on a winning note. Ranjeet stamped his authority in the match from the first game and defeated Tamil Nadu’s Oges Prakash 6-0, 6-2 in straight sets to move into the next round.

Besides the prestigious titles, the winners will be awarded prize money with a total prize pool of over Rs 21.55 Lakh and Kit Allowance in the junior categories up for grabs. The winners and runners-up in the U-16 and U-14 singles events will also receive a Tennis scholarship of ₹25,000 each.

Matches in the Boys' and Girls' Under-16 and Under-14 category qualifying and main draw will be played from October 5 to October 12.

--IANS

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